


In your shoes

by raug_moss



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Body Swap, F/F, alex character study-ish, birthday gift, sister time, supercat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-24 18:31:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9779189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raug_moss/pseuds/raug_moss
Summary: An incident causes Kara and Alex to switch bodies. Alex has no idea Kara is sleeping with Cat Grant. Things go downhill from there.





	1. Surprise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fictorium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictorium/gifts).



> okay, wow, I didn't think this was going to be this long, but thanks to krystalgoderitch for the feedback, making me add about 5k words to this thing. 
> 
> also, happy birthday to fictorium! we don't really know each other and we've never talked, but your writing is beautiful and amazing. so I thought I'd do something to wish you a happy birthday as well. have a wonderful day and I hope you have another great year ahead of you.

“We have to get out of here,” Alex yelled over the deafening noise of exploding barrels as she waved toward the exit of the warehouse.

There was only a moment of hesitation before the DEO agents moved in unison – a tactical retreat like they’d trained for.

The explosions were getting closer and the entire building was shaking while pieces of the roof were crashing down around them. Alex shot one last look over her shoulder to make sure no one was still behind her before she sprinted off herself.

She was fast, very much so, but there simply wasn’t enough time to get out of the way as she sensed another giant piece of the ceiling was coming down right on top of her. Alex raised her hands above her head and ducked away before dropping into a dive roll. The rubble hit the ground where she’d been just a moment ago and by the time she was back on her feet, her escape route was cut off by more debris.

“I could use some help in here,” she called, drawing out the last word as she stared up at her impending doom.

She squeezed her eyes shut as dust whirled around her and the rest of the building collapsed with a loud echoing groan. A shift in the air alerted her to Kara’s presence and she looked up to find Supergirl floating above her, holding the ceiling with both hands.

“You okay?” Kara called and Alex nodded, coughing at the fumes the explosions were setting off.

“Yeah, but we should probably get out of here," Alex rushed out and Kara slowly lowered herself to the ground so she could throw the heavy rock and metal away from them. It landed somewhere in the distance and Alex sighed in relief at the sky coming into view behind Kara.

“Let’s go.” Kara reached out and Alex clasped her hand in the same moment as another explosion went off right beside them. Kara reacted immediately and wrapped her body around Alex to shield her from the blast.

A wave of hot foul-smelling air rushed over them Alex squeezed her eyes shut. She was incredibly dizzy and the world was spinning around her in colors and shapes until she had no idea where up and down were supposed to be.

Then there was absolute silence for a moment and it felt like she was robbed of every single one of her senses. Until things came rushing back in, louder and brighter than they should’ve been.

There was blood pounding in her ears but she couldn’t make out a single sound over the cacophony of noise. “Kara?” she groaned quietly, clearing her throat at the strange sound of her voice.

“I’m here,” came the reply and Alex immediately cringed.

“Stop yelling,” she replied and raised her hands to cover her ears. She could only see shapes and shadows when she opened her eyes so she reached out until she felt something smooth and warm under her fingertips.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m not sure,” Kara answered and her voice sounded off as well.

Alex clutched at what she thought was Kara’s arm and struggled to her feet. “I can’t see anything,” she gasped.

“We…we have to get out of here,” Kara replied and Alex was pulled along as they stumbled over rubble and pieces of metal.

“Alex, Kara,” J’onn called and Alex tilted her head. She opened her eyes again, blinking into the bright sunlight. Her sight was still messed up and she reached up to press her fingers against her eyelids.

“J’onn, can you get us out of here?” Alex asked and there was a small noise from beside her.

It was only then that she heard the sound of boots hitting the ground and J’onn’s familiar scent swirled around her.

“What is going on here?” she yelled over the sudden noise that was seemingly coming from everywhere at once. And why were her eyes still not doing what they were supposed to do? Maybe the explosion had caused some serious damage to her senses.

She couldn’t make out any words although she knew that there were voices around her. It was really quite unsettling but she forced herself to remain calm - it wouldn’t help if she started panicking now. And knowing J’onn and Kara were nearby was enough to keep her focused.

She took a deep breath, drawing the air into her lungs until she felt them expand. She needed to be aware of what was happening around her but that wasn’t going to happen if she didn’t regain control over her panic. So she used a technique she had learned early on in her training to block out everything around her and only focus on the calm center in her mind.

Her breathing eventually slowed and there was another moment of noise and flashing brightness until the chaos in her head died down and she could hear J’onn calling her name. Her eyes, however, were an entirely different matter.

“Are you alright?” J’onn asked from somewhere close by and Alex nodded slowly.

“I think so, I’m… not sure, everything is too loud and too bright, I can’t see. The explosion is probably the cause. Is everyone else okay?”

“Yes, they got out in time. We’re taking care of everything but you need to return to HQ. Just stay calm.”

“I’m trying,” Alex replied with a deep breath and a moment later she felt warm hands on her arms, slowly guiding her away from what she assumed were the remains of the warehouse behind her. The ground was uneven beneath her boots and she could hear fire crackling close by. Her legs were kind of wobbly although she wasn’t quite sure why walking felt so strange. Maybe she was still in shock.

Then there was the sound of a car door opening and she slowly slid into the seat. The smell of the SUV's interior was familiar and she leaned forward and put her forehead against the headrest of the seat in front of her. She took a deep breath and kept her eyes tightly closed when she heard another car door open.

“Are you doing alright?” Vasquez asked and Alex exhaled slowly.

“I think so. What about Kara, is she okay?”

There was a small noise form Vasquez before she spoke. “She’s… stable and being taken back to headquarters already, we’re on our way now.”

“Okay, alright,” Alex replied quietly, worry churning in the pit of her stomach. They didn't know what had been in those barrels and even Supergirl could've been injured by alien chemicals. 

After they drove away, Alex focused on the steady noise of the engine and while it seemed way too loud in the interior of the car, it managed to calm her until they had reached their destination.

Vasquez got out of the car and a moment later the door on her side opened again and a warm hand came to rest on her shoulder to guide her along. There was something reassuring about Vasquez’s presence despite the fact that they weren't talking at all.

She kept on walking, her boots slapping against the asphalt of the parking garage, and after a short elevator ride Vasquez led her to one of the examination rooms in the lab. Alex knew the way by heart and would’ve found it even with her eyes closed - obviously.

“I’ll go get someone,” Vasquez said as soon as Alex had taken a seat on one of the examination tables.

“Okay,” she replied quietly, frowning at the odd sound of her voice.

Something was obviously off but aside from her messed up senses she couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was.

How had the mission gone so terrible wrong? They’d been so careful in staking out the warehouse, had arrested several suspects first and then swiftly combed through the building to make sure they hadn’t missed anything. She had absolutely no idea what had triggered the explosions, but luckily no one seemed to have gotten seriously harmed. She just hoped Kara was doing better than she was.

The door to the examination room opened again and Alex tilted her head in the direction of the noise.

“I have something for you,” J’onn said and suddenly there was a slight weight on her nose.

The contrast was astounding. Where a moment ago Alex had unknowingly been hearing white noise all around her, there was blissful quiet now. She reached up and fingered the glasses on her nose. She slowly opened her eyes and the brightness faded until she was staring at J’onn’s concerned face. She exhaled a long breath and blinked.

 “I can see, thank god.”

“How do you feel?” J’onn asked and Alex shrugged one shoulder.

“I’m okay I think,” she replied and pointed at the glasses. “What happened?”

“We think the incident at the warehouse must’ve triggered some kind of reaction in you and Kara,” J’onn replied slowly, his eyes flickering over her face.

“A reaction? What do you…”

Alex trailed off as the door to the examination room opened again and another person stepped inside. She couldn’t quite believe her own eyes and squeezed them shut for a moment as if the darkness would erase the image. But no such luck.

She was struck dumb and sat there for several seconds, trying to comprehend what she was staring at. Because, for some reason, she was looking straight at herself, or rather a copy of herself. From her face right down to the DEO-issued gear, everything was exactly the same - and yet it wasn’t. There was something distinctly different about the clone, although she wasn't sure what exactly caused that impression.

“Oh my god,” she breathed, her jaw hanging open. This was certainly more than just a ‘reaction’.

“I want to know what’s going on here, “Alex demanded, slowly getting up from the examination table, “and where is Kara?”

“I’m here,” the clone replied and Alex's gaze snapped down to her own hands so quickly it almost gave her whiplash.

Those weren’t her hands.

Alex reached up to her head and trailed her fingers slowly downward, noting the unfamiliar curves and angles until she reached the glasses on her nose.

And this wasn’t her body.

“Oh my god.”

S-S-S

Kara hissed quietly as she banged into the side of the counter and Alex glared at her from where she was still perched on the edge of the examination table. “Could you please be more careful with my body? I want it back in pristine condition.”

“I’m trying,” Kara replied while rubbing at where her hip had collided with the counter.

Alex grimaced as the phone in the tiny pocket at her hip vibrated again. It hadn’t stopped since they’d arrived at the DEO but she hadn’t had a chance to tell Kara about it because of the series of tests they’d undergone for the better part of the past two hours.

“Who keeps calling you?” she asked and freed the phone from her pocket conveniently hidden in the folds of the skirt. Kara rushed over and grabbed it from her, slightly jostling it between her fingers before she got a good grip on it.

It was extremely disconcerting to see her own body like that, but even more so with Kara’s movements and mannerisms. She took a moment to study herself, because this was probably the only opportunity she’d get to look at herself from this perspective.

Kara had adapted to being in a different body much more easily since she hadn't had to deal with an onslaught of yellow-sun-enhanced senses, but instead she seemed much clumsier with the unfamiiar limbs.

Alex’s intense focus on the angle of her own jawline was interrupted as Kara began mumbling quietly. Due to her now enhanced senses she could make out the words rather clearly.

“Dammit, I have to call her.”

Alex hadn’t meant to use superspeed but she had grabbed the phone from Kara before she even realized she’d done it.

“Hey,” Kara protested as soon as she noticed that her hands were empty.

“You shouldn’t call anybody, not like this,” Alex replied and gestured towards her own body, “we can’t risk anyone knowing that you’re not yourself at the moment. We both know that there are plenty of people out there who’d pounce the moment they realized Supergirl isn’t on top her of game.”

Alex hadn’t known her eyes could even get that big. Kara had the puppy dog look down even in the wrong body. But it was more than that, she actually seemed dejected. Alex sighed and walked over to pull Kara into a gentle hug. “Everything is going to be okay, I promise. J’onn has every available agent working on a solution right now, we’ll have this sorted out in no time, but until then we have to keep our heads down, okay?”

Kara wrapped her arms tightly around Alex but it only felt like the most miniscule amount of pressure. Her senses were so heightened that she smelled traces of her own shampoo from a shower this morning and she clearly heard the heartbeat of her human body thrumming steadily. She hadn’t realized how much the glasses helped Kara keep everything around her, noises and sights, at bay.

“Okay,” Kara replied with a sigh, “but I have to send at least a message to take off work.”

Alex took a small step back and rubbed her hands along Kara’s arms. “Alright, tell them you caught the flu or something. I’ll go and check with the lab if they have any results yet.”

Kara nodded and Alex wandered out of the examination room. She headed down the hallway until the doors at the far end slid open noiselessly and she found a team of agents in white coats bent over microscopes.

“What do we have so far?” she asked and a few heads were raised in her direction. There was a moment of awkward silence before one of the agents spoke.

“Uh… Agent Danvers? Yes, well, the substance we’ve found in the warehouse seems to have changed its properties on a cellular level due to the extreme heat of the explosions.”

The agent stepped back and Alex walked over to bend down and look into the microscope. She reached up to adjust the magnification but there was only a small _click_ and she was holding the little toothed wheel in her hand.

The agent frowned at her and Alex cleared her throat. “Sorry about that.”

“We will inform you as soon as we have something, Agent Danvers.”

Usually Alex was the one who took the lead in the lab, she was excellent at what she did, and she’d never been dismissed like that. She frowned at the agent and set the little wheel down before slowly walking back to the doors.

Several pairs of eyes followed her and Alex pursed her lips as she left. Was this what Kara often felt like when Alex didn’t take the time to keep her informed about the lab part of their work? Well, it sucked.

Alex pouted all the way back to the examination room where Kara had taken a seat in front of one of the laptops and was frowning at it almost as much as Alex.

She looked up when the door opened and tilted her head. “Nothing?”

“Nothing yet,” Alex replied with a sigh.

She felt utterly useless as she plopped down in one of the chairs and gathered the cape of her Supergirl outfit in her lap. She put her elbow on the armrest and cradled her chin in her hand while watching Kara stare grimly at the laptop screen and typing away. So this was her expression for annoyance, Alex mused silently.

“Everything okay?”

“I’m need to get a few things in order for work, as much as I can at least, but I can’t remember half of the passwords. How much longer are we going to be here?”

“I really don’t know,” Alex replied. It had only been a few hours and already she felt like she should be doing something, anything, to solve this.

She was still staring at Kara sullenly until an idea popped into her head and she glanced down at the red cape covering her thighs.

“Hey… how about I go and grab some things from our apartments? That way you could get some work done and we need some clothes anyways if we’re going to stay here.”

Alex knew that it was hypocritical of her to ask Kara to stay while she took off, but there was this tiny voice in the back of her head, quietly whispering that this was the only chance she’d ever get to understand what it was like to be Supergirl, to be _Kara_.

Her body was near indestructible and she just wanted to jump into the air and defy gravity like she’d seen Kara do so many times. It was selfish, yes, but she’d dedicated her life to protecting Kara and she would continue to do so for the rest of it, so in a sense it might come in handy at some point to know everything there was to know about Kara’s powers.

Kara shot her a knowing look but didn’t protest, instead she smiled lightly. “That’d be great, actually. But be careful out there, I want my body back in pristine condition too.”

“Of course,” Alex replied with a grin as she got to her feet.

In that moment the doors to the room opened and J’onn entered with the same frown he’d been wearing on his face since the incident at the warehouse.

“How are you two doing?”

Kara shrugged while Alex raised her eyebrows. “As well as can be expected, I suppose.”

After that Alex told him that she was going to briefly leave the DEO to run an errand and he leveled a long stare at her. “Do you think that’s a good idea? I could send an agent to fetch your things.”

“It’ll be quicker this way,” Kara replied before Alex had even opened her mouth, “and Alex knows what we’ll need. I don’t really want anyone else going through my stuff.”

Alex shot Kara a look and they smiled at each other for a moment before J’onn sighed and put his hands on his hips. “Fine. But no detours, straight there and back.”

Alex nodded. “Yes, sir.”

She left Kara with another hug and the promise to return as quickly as possible. The way out of the DEO facility was familiar, but the moment she stepped onto the roof and stared up at the sky bathed in soft golden light of the sunset, she felt nothing like herself. The muscles of her body tensed and she closed her eyes briefly. This was it.

She reached up and took off her glasses, letting the sounds of the city swirl around her like a musical composition. It wasn’t as overwhelming this time and she took several moments to center herself before Alex bent her legs slightly. Already in the next second she had launched herself into air. Wind whipped around her hair and it took her several seconds to stop rising higher and higher until she was hovering mid-air.

It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Despite the fact that she could still feel gravity pulling her back down to earth, her body simply defied this rule of physics without much effort at all.

She smiled and looked down at her hands, squeezing them into fists and stretching them several times. Such power in one single body. She huffed quietly and shook her head. The people on this planet had no idea how lucky they were that Kara possessed such a kind, gentle and compassionate soul.

After another deep breath, Alex tensed her muscles again and drifted forward, slowly tilting into Kara’s typical flying pose, one arm stretched in front of her and her legs tightly pressed together.

She cut through the rapidly cooling air up into the sky and a laugh of pure elation escaped her as she twisted up and around several times.

Although she could’ve continued on like this for another hour or so, she knew Kara was waiting for her and they needed to find a solution to this situation.

She took off in the direction of Kara’s apartment but couldn’t locate the building right away. Everything looked different from up here. After a while, she found the apartment complex and luckily Kara was in the habit of leaving her window open for any swift entries and exits. The last thing Alex wanted was to expose Supergirl because of a moronic mistake.

The wind was still whipping around her and she saw the top of the CatCo building as she descended and slowed down upon approaching Kara’s apartment. She slipped in through the window but stumbled the last couple of steps while trying to regain her balance. Unfortunately she was still too fast and slammed into the opposite wall, leaving two hand-sized holes in the plaster.

“I’ll fix that, uhm, later,” she mumbled while brushing the debris from her hands with a sigh.

She looked around the apartment and inhaled deeply, letting the familiar scent wash over her. All of her senses were heightened but it seemed like sight and hearing were mostly affected. Still, her sense of smell was much better than of a human and it explained how Kara always managed to be right there when food was nearby.

She could imagine that it probably wasn’t easy either, to find things that tasted right to a person with such improved senses. Alex silently vowed that she wouldn’t fight Kara for the last pot sticker anymore, and she would buy her a whole bag as soon as they had this situation resolved.

She shot one last glance at the holes in the wall before walking through the living room and into Kara’s bedroom. She knew where most of Kara’s stuff was but used human speed throw everything into a duffel bag. The last thing she wanted to do was ripping Kara’s clothes into pieces.

Unsure of how long all this would take, Alex grabbed clothes for a few days along with a fresh toothbrush and Kara’s laptop. She obviously needed to get some work done while waiting around and a few emails surely wouldn’t expose them.

At the same time, Alex hoped that there wouldn’t be any heavy alien activity while they were short an agent and Supergirl. While she could probably go out and stop a bank robbery or something similar, she wouldn’t dare get into any serious fights in Kara’s body. That was like asking for trouble.

Alex slung the bag over her shoulder and was just about to walk back to the window when several knocks sounded at the front door. She stopped short and frowned. Had Kara been expecting company? If it was Winn or James she could inform them of the situation right away, but the knock sounded too insistent and demanding for either of them.

Alex narrowed her eyes and used her improved vision to look through the door but all she saw was a skeleton. A little too much. She closed her eyes and shook her head before trying again. This time she could make out a human shape and after a minor adjustment she could clearly see Cat Grant standing on the other side of that door.

Confusion crept through her mind and she contemplated ignoring Cat. But Kara would probably come for her head if she ever found out Alex had left Cat standing in front of her door while she could probably see light coming from underneath, indicating that someone was home.

With a huff, she dropped the duffel bag and rushed into the bedroom to pull some clothes over the Supergirl suit and put on a pair of glasses.

She walked toward the door where the knocking still hadn’t ceased while tying her hair into a ponytail at the back of her head. That woman was quite a menace. And what was she doing here in the first place, especially since Kara wasn’t her assistant anymore?

She turned the knob and pulled the door open, finding a distraught Cat Grant on the other side. Alex wasn’t sure what to make of the look of relief that washed over Cat’s face but she barely had time to open her mouth before Cat had shouldered her way into the apartment.

“I have been calling you for hours, and you didn’t deem it important to answer me or just send one of those inane text messages of yours?” Cat asked as she slammed her purse onto the small cupboard next to her. “And then I find you here, alive and well, doing what exactly?”

Alex opened and closed her mouth a few times, completely confused by Cat’s demeanor. “I’m… sorry?”

She was trying to think of how Kara would react in such a situation. Her sister had an obvious hero-worship-crush on Cat Grant and the last thing she wanted was to get Kara in trouble with the woman.

“You’re sorry?” Cat repeated clearly exasperated. She tossed her hands into the air and sighed. “That’s the best you’ve got?”

Alex blinked. “Uhm, yes? It’s just… it’s been a long day and things happened that were just… difficult.”

She was trying to replicate Kara’s most innocent expression and it seemed to work as Cat sighed again and deflated slightly.

“You really had me worried.”

Now that piqued her interest and Alex took a small step forward. “Really?”

“Of course,” Cat replied and already in the next moment she had crossed the distance between them and suddenly Alex found herself with Cat Grant on her face.

Insistent lips gently pressed against her own, against _Kara’s_ , she reminded herself, while two arms wrapped around her neck. Alex was too shocked to do anything but stand there like she had frozen into a solid block of ice.

She could’ve sworn she heard a small explosion as her mind was blown. Kara was sleeping with Cat Grant and she hadn’t told her. Her sister, who couldn’t keep a secret to save her own life, had been keeping something so huge from her?

Cat took a small step back and frowned at her, tiling her head slightly so she could look up at Alex. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, uhm, I just… uhm.”

How was she going to get out of this one?

Cat reached up and cradled her face gently between her palms. “Kara, tell me what’s bothering you, please.”

Alex reached up and grasped Cat’s wrists to remove her hands. This was getting a bit too awkward and she just couldn’t come out and tell Cat to her face that Kara wasn’t at home right now. “I’m okay, I just have a lot of stuff to do, like right now, so uh… let’s talk another time, yeah?”

Cat’s expression morphed from open concern to something unidentifiable. Her features smoothed out and she took several steps back. "You want me to leave?"

Oh shit. Alex cringed but tried to smile. “Rain check?”

“Of course,” Cat replied as she brushed her hands across her blazer and then reached for her purse. She slung the strap over her shoulder and left without another glance. Alex stared at the closed door, her mouth hanging open.

“Oh shit.”


	2. Realization

Upon Alex’s return to the DEO she was greeted with a still worried looking J’onn and the same handful of agents trying to salvage whatever had been in those barrels after the explosion. So far, they still couldn’t explain the unexpected body swap, but if anyone could fix them, it was this team.

She dropped the duffel bags in one of the common rooms and crept slowly into the adjoining military-style bedroom where Kara was sleeping fitfully. It was odd seeing herself like that, curled up on the side and clutching at a pillow with both hands. It must have been hard for Kara to be in such a vulnerable body. Despite the fact that she’d blown out her powers before, there was probably a difference to the level of helplessness she was feeling now.

Alex regretted snapping at Kara earlier about being more careful with her body. She knew her sister would never do anything to intentionally put them in danger, not to mention hurt her in any way.

Kara mumbled quietly in her sleep and Alex sat down on the side of bed to gently reach out and tuck some dark brown shoulder-length hair away from her face. Kara’s eyes fluttered and Alex winced at the awkward expression on her face. Was that really what she looked like when waking up? Oh well.

“Alex?” Kara asked quietly and gasped as soon as her tired eyes landed on her own face.

“Yeah, it’s me, I’m here now.”

She lightly stroked Kara’s cheek and smiled. “Go back to sleep, we’ll talk tomorrow.”

“M’kay,” Kara mumbled and rolled over to press her forehead against the side of Alex’s thigh.

It had been a long day and an even more strenuous mission at the warehouse. Kara had to be exhausted after all that and she just didn’t have the heart to wake her up and tell her that she’d pissed off the woman Kara was apparently kissing behind closed doors. Instead she waited for Kara to fall back into a deep sleep while listening to the rhythmic beating of her heart.

She eventually rose from the bed and changed into a pair of pajamas she’d grabbed from Kara’s apartment before walking back into the small bedroom and plopping into the bed opposite from Kara. Her body wasn’t tired just yet, but her mind needed some rest so she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. They would fix this somehow. They had to.

S-S-S

Alex sipped at her coffee and grimaced at the bitter taste in her mouth. No wonder Kara preferred hot chocolate. She set the cup down just as Kara stumbled from the bedroom into the common room and its tiny kitchen. She looked rumpled from sleep and her hair was all over the place.

They really needed to get their own bodies back because Alex was slowly starting to think that she looked like a damn grizzly bear at all times of the day.

“Coffee,” Kara grunted and Alex slid her cup over to her as Kara sat opposite her at the tiny breakfast bar.

She knew she was pretty useless without caffeine in the morning so it wasn’t entirely surprising to see Kara take a huge gulp before flailing around and cursing quietly.

“Too hot,” she replied at Alex’s raised eyebrows while sticking her tongue out to let it cool off. Alex made a small sound in the back of her throat before reaching for another muffin that was sitting in a small basket between them. She’d had three already and her stomach was still rumbling quietly.

She took a bite from the muffin before glancing down at it. Blueberry, nice.

“I need to tell you something,” Alex said and cleared her throat.

Kara was sipping at the coffee again and reaching for a chocolate chip muffin as her eyes trailed up to Alex’s face and narrowed slightly. “Okay.”

“While I was at your apartment last night you had a visitor.” Alex slowly peeled away the muffin wrapping and took another bite. She’d never been a nervous eater, alcohol was her poison of choice in those situations, but now she found herself with a mouthful of muffin as Kara stared at her.

“Who?”

“Cat Grant,” Alex answered, holding a hand in front of her mouth so she didn’t spray crumbs of food everywhere.

Kara’s eyes widened and Alex heard her heart rate spike. “What… what happened?”

“She kissed me,” Alex replied and Kara squeaked loudly. Coffee went splashing everywhere, mainly into Alex’s face. Luckily the hot liquid only drenched her shirt without burning her skin.

“What the hell.” Alex got to her feet and grabbed a roll of paper towels from the counter.

“Cat kissed you?” Kara’s face was pale and the empty coffee cup hung precariously off of her fingers.

“Well technically she kissed _you_ ,” Alex replied while wiping at her face and dabbing at her shirt. She looked up after a few moments and raised an eyebrow at Kara. “Care to share why she did that?”

Kara reached up to her face, probably to fiddle with her glasses, but dropped her hand when she realized that there was nothing on her nose. “I’m not… we… it’s complicated. You’re angry, aren’t you?”

Alex sighed. “No, I’m not angry, disappointed that you didn’t tell me maybe, but as much as I want to always make sure no one hurts you, you’re a grown woman and you make your own decisions.”

Kara smiled at that and rushed around the counter to throw her arms around Alex’s neck regardless of the coffee stains between them. Alex returned the hug and rested her hands on Kara’s back, rubbing them up and down slowly.

“Thank you,” Kara whispered and Alex smiled.

“I want you to be happy, you know that, and if Cat Grant makes you happy, well, then I’m going to have to learn to deal with that.”

She pushed Kara away to hold her at arm’s length. “I’m assuming she knows you’re Supergirl? Because she seemed pretty worried last night.”

Kara bit her lip and nodded slowly. “She figured it out herself, it’s not like telling her was a surprise.”

“Okay, well, we’ll deal with that once we’ve got this whole thing figured out,” Alex said, motioning between them, “and we need to tell J’onn.”

Kara scrunched her nose but nodded again, before her expression shifted again. “So… what happened after Cat kissed you?”

“Well, I had to get rid of her somehow, I mean I wasn’t going to make out with her to keep up the charade, so I kind of told her that I was busy, or rather that you were busy. I don’t think she took it that well,” Alex said, her voice getting quieter with each word until she was basically whispering the last part.

“Oh no, no, no,” Kara mumbled, her face had gone white as a sheet.

Alex squeezed Kara’s shoulder lightly. “I really am sorry, but I was pretty overwhelmed with the whole thing myself, I probably could’ve handled that better.”

Kara shook her head slowly. “No, it’s… it’s not your fault, you didn’t know and I didn’t tell you about it either, so if anyone is to blame for this mess it’s me. It’s just… Cat and I, we just got over this whole thing where she thought she wasn’t good enough for me, that she was holding me back somehow. Can you believe that? It took me a while to convince her that wasn’t going to happen. Alex, I _really_ like her.”

Kara was staring at her with wide eyes and Alex felt a mild sense of panic rising up in her throat. God, what if she’d just messed up her sister’s relationship with a woman she seemed to truly care about? Someone who apparently understood Kara and had kept her secret despite being the ‘Queen of All Media’.

“Okay, get dressed, let’s go, you need to talk to her, she’s probably at work, right? I’ll fly us there,” Alex said, waving her hands around.

Some of her panic must’ve transferred to Kara because a moment later they were both rushing around the room. Clothes were flying around as Kara changed out of her pajamas and Alex tugged on the Supergirl outfit. Due to a little bit of super speed she was done much faster than Kara and rushed out of the room to inform J’onn that they were taking a quick trip. He wasn’t enthusiastic about it, of course not, but he let them go nonetheless, calling after Alex that their scientists had found something promising and that they needed to talk after they returned.

She waved to him that she’d understood and hurried over to where Kara was already waiting for her at one of the secret hatches that allowed Supergirl to fly off and land undetected.

“Ready?” Alex asked as she wrapped Kara into her arms and received a determined nod in response.

It took them a few minutes to reach the CatCo building, especially because Alex was taking it slow while flying with a passenger. She gently landed on the roof per Kara’s instructions.

“Okay, I’ve got this,” Kara said while smoothing down her hair. She wasn’t used to wearing it so short and it looked a little wind-swept even as she tried to pat it down with her hands.

“Just explain to her what happened, I mean she already knows you’re Supergirl so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Although you might have to convince her that you’re _you_ first. Are you sure you don’t want me to come along?” Alex asked.

“No, I mean, could you wait up here? Just in case.”

“Yeah, I’ll be here, just call if you need me.” Alex stepped forward and pulled Kara into a brief hug before letting her go and watching her hurry over to the stairs.

She exhaled loudly and put her hands on her hips while staring at the retreating back of her own body.

S-S-S

Kara tugged at the blouse that was stuffed into her jeans and pulled the collar of the leather jacket away from her throat. Had it always been this hot inside of the CatCo offices?

She’d decided to wear some of Alex’s more casual clothes for this little visit to the office, since tactical military gear would’ve probably aroused some unwanted attention. Her heart had been beating double-time ever since Alex had told her about Cat showing up at the apartment last night and she just wasn’t used to sweating this much, it made her even more uncomfortable.

She walked down the stairs, taking two steps at a time, until she reached the top floor. James was standing at one of the desks, talking to a reporter, when he spotted her and did a double take before immediately walking over.

“Alex, is everything alright? Where’s Kara?”

Kara slowed her step but didn’t stop completely. “It’s kind of complicated, I’m okay… I mean so is Kara, we’ll explain later, I promise.”

James's face was contorted with confusion but he nodded nonetheless. She shot him a quick smile and then continued on to the glass office where Cat was sitting primly behind her desk. Her eyes zeroed in on her tense shoulders and the downturn of her mouth and Kara was about to step inside when Cat’s new assistant jumped in her way.

“I’m sorry but you can’t go in there, Miss Grant has requested not to be disturbed.”

Kara glanced at Eve, whom Cat only ever called by her last name, and tried to smile reassuringly. “She’ll want to see me.”

“I can’t let you in,” Eve whispered but Cat had apparently spotted them already and called from behind her desk to let her pass.

Eve exhaled loudly and stepped aside to sit back down behind her desk, eyeing Kara warily. “She’s fired three people already this morning, please try not to make it worse,” she said quietly and Kara’s eyes widened. Already not a good start to this conversation.

She slipped into the room and closed the glass doors behind her, staring at Cat who was looking back at her with a thoughtful expression. Cat reached up and took off her glasses, carefully depositing them on the desk before rising to her feet. She was, as always, exquisitely dressed and Kara took a moment to appreciate the black skirt and silken blouse. Cat’s heels clicked against the floor as she walked around the desk, her eyes still watching Kara warily.

Cat knew who Alex was from all the photos around her apartment but it probably seemed completely out of character for Alex to show up like this. At Cat’s office no less, and she couldn’t even begin to guess what was going through Cat’s mind.

“I suppose we should take this to the balcony,” Cat said with a sweeping gesture of her hand. Kara nodded and followed Cat outside, taking a deep breath of the warm air.

She turned to look at Cat who was slowly making her way over to the railing of the balcony. “Why are you here?”

Kara swallowed past the lump in her throat and folded her hands in front of her body. Tension was radiating off of Cat and she didn’t know how to even begin to explain all this. She was fiddling with the sleeves of her leather jacket and staring down at her hands while trying to find the right words.

She took  a step toward Cat, trying to catch her gaze. “I need to talk to you, and all of this might sound very strange to you but please let me explain. I just… you have to know that you’re important to me.”

Cat seemed dumbstruck as she gaped. “Are you… coming on to me?”

Kara let out a disbelieving laugh that quickly died in her throat at the look on Cat’s face. “What? No, of course not, I mean not like that. That’s not what’s happening here.” Kara shook her head quickly and raised a hand to brush through her hair. Okay, this obviously wasn’t the right way to start the conversation.

“I just need to you to know that were was a misunderstanding, when you came to the apartment last night.”

Cat was staring at Kara now, her jaw tightening until there was a nerve jumping in her neck. “A misunderstanding? What in the world are you talking about?”

“Well, I know what happened and uhm… I came to talk to you, to clear things up.”

“Oh, so Kara sent _you_ to tell me to stay away? That’s just lovely.”

Cat huffed and turned to lean against the railing, her eyes focused on the city below them. Her entire posture was rigid and Kara was almost worried Cat was going to give herself a headache with the way she kept clenching her jaw.

“I… no, I would never… I mean Kara would never do that.”

Cat spun back around and glared at her. “And yet she told you what happened last night, and here you are, showing up at _my_ office, telling me that there was a _misunderstanding_ , when clearly Kara couldn’t even be bothered to call me yesterday and now she doesn’t think talking to me herself is necessary either? I know how to take a hint, Agent Scully, you can leave now.”

Kara was so surprised by Cat’s anger that she stood there for several seconds, her mouth moving uselessly without forming any actual words. She inhaled through her nose and fought down her own initial response.

She wanted to understand where Cat was coming from, where this anger was coming from. She’d been worried, obviously, and the way Alex had brushed her off last night seemed to have hurt her a great deal. And perhaps she’d been expecting Kara to show up and explain everything, apologize too, and yet to Cat it seemed like she’d sent the sister who shouldn’t even be aware of their relationship.

“What I’m trying to tell you is that Kara wasn’t herself last night,” she replied eventually. This was going in a way she hadn’t anticipated and the sinking feeling in her stomach made her feel even more nervous.

“Not herself? I’m sure there is a great story to go along with this ominous statement but I’m just not in the mood for it,” Cat replied and waved Kara off, “you can see yourself out.”

Cat turned to walk back into her office and Kara was about to blurt out everything, how she wasn’t in her own body right now and needed Cat to understand, when a loud boom reverberated through the entire building, shaking the glass of Cat’s office in its frame.

Kara took a few steps forward and reached out both arms to protect Cat from whatever was happening around them. But Cat’s eyes were glued to something else entirely. Kara followed her gaze and discovered smoke billowing from another building a few blocks away. Flames were licking across the reflective surface of the windows, painting them black.

Even from this distance she could hear voices screaming and with a quick brush of air Alex was hovering in front of the balcony, the red cape flapping around her legs.

“There are people trapped in there,” she said, her voice quivering slightly.

Kara inhaled a deep breath and nodded. She turned to Cat whose eyes were darting from the burning building to Alex in equal parts shock and hurt.

Could there be a worse moment for any of this? Kara cursed silently and stepped in front of Cat, forcing her to look away from Alex and the familiar red cape.

She stared directly into Cat’s eyes, her own gaze serious and open. “We will explain everything later, okay? Just give me… give Kara a chance to explain.”

Cat’s eyes snapped to her eyes and confusion bloomed across her features. She was searching Kara’s face, or in this case Alex’s, until she clenched her jaw and stepped back as Alex landed softly on the balcony and wrapped her arms around Kara to launch them both into air a moment later.

Kara glanced down to see Cat growing smaller and smaller on the balcony and she shook her head with a frown. “Dammit.”

“We’ll get this sorted out, I promise,” Alex replied as she flew them through the air and through a cloud of black smoke, causing Kara to cough and squint her eyes.

Alex landed briefly to set Kara down on the ground in front of the building where people were pushing out onto the street in a wild panic.

“Make sure everyone gets out, okay? But don’t go in, I’ve got this. Ambulances should be here soon,” Alex called and Kara nodded.

Alex immediately rushed off while a round of cheers sounded as people noticed Supergirl nearby.

Kara turned to the entrance of the building and ran over to the doors, prying them open even further so that people had more space to rush out onto the street. Another explosion shook the ground beneath her feet and she stumbled to the side before finding her footing and grabbing a woman who had fallen to her knees right in front of the door, thus blocking everyone else who was trying to get out.

S-S-S

Alex wasted no time rushing into the building. The fire was nothing but a nuisance and even the thick black smoke barely slowed her down.

She scanned the rooms with x-ray vision and located several people either huddled together in fear or passed out from the smoke. It took her several precious minutes to locate and remove everyone since she could only carry two people at the same time even with superspeed.

After about five or six trips into the building, blasting through walls and carrying various injured office workers, she had grabbed the last remaining person and flown him to an ambulance where she set the unconscious man softly down onto a gurney.

The entire street was now crowded by police cruisers and fire trucks and many of them came over to inquire about the state of the building and any possible victims. So far it seemed like the explosions hadn’t caused any fatalities.

The firefighter clasped her hand tightly and shook with a grateful look in his eyes. Alex smiled lightly and nodded slowly. So this was what it felt like to be a hero.

As soon as the firefighter had walked off Alex was looking for Kara and eventually found her helping a woman who was coughing heavily over to the one of the waiting ambulances. She had a few dark streaks of dirt on her face and a small cut on her forehead.

Kara walked over to her as soon as she caught sight of Alex. “Are you okay? Did everyone get out?”

“Yeah, everyone made it,” Alex replied while squinting at the cut on Kara’s forehead, “you okay though?”

“Oh… uh… yeah, sorry about that, the second explosion had people pushing through the doors even faster and it smacked me in the face.”

Kara cringed and glanced at her apologetically.

Alex sighed and smiled lightly. “As long as you’re fine, that’s all that matters. You did great.”

Kara returned the smile with a shy one of her own. “Thanks, you too.”

Alex nodded and did one last scan with her x-ray vision just to be absolutely sure. DEO cars had also arrived on the scene and several agents were cordoning off the front of the building. A few agents came over to them with particular gear and tech pointing toward the building.

“We’ve registered similar heat emissions to those at the warehouse, Agent Danvers,” one of the agents addressed Kara, seemingly forgetting that they weren’t quite themselves at the moment.

“Okay,” Kara replied slowly, “so that means the same people might be responsible?”

“It’s a possibility,” Alex said with narrowed eyes, “we’ll have to find out what caused the explosions and then run some tests to see if we can find residue of that substance we found in the barrels.”

The agent was staring at Supergirl with her mouth slightly agape until she blinked a few times and nodded awkwardly in their direction, glancing between them. “Right away, Agent Danvers.”

As soon as the first news vans arrived on the scene it was time for them to leave. Alex used a quiet moment while the reporters were still setting up their cameras to grab Kara and fly them away until they were completely out of sight.

Back at the DEO, Kara was checked by one of the doctors, just be sure she didn't get seriously hurt with that door smacking in her face, before they were briefed by J’onn on the state of progress. Apparently there was a connection between the explosions and they assumed that the warehouse had only been some sort of test, but to what purpose they weren’t sure.

Afterwards they were both sent off to take showers and found themselves in the common room again with Kara sipping coffee and Alex preparing a bowl of instant noodles. Kara’s shoulder-length hair was wet and slicked back and Alex studied the look with narrowed eyes until her gaze was drawn to the white butterfly tape on her forehead.

“So the whole thing with Cat didn’t go so well, huh?”

Kara snorted tiredly into her coffee. “I completely messed up.”

“Well, it wasn’t entirely your fault from what I heard. She really did think you sent your sister to break up with her? That’s harsh.”

Alex turned as the microwave beeped and took the piping hot cup of noodles into her hand before slurping some of the broth.

“Cat has been disappointed many times in her life, and it’s difficult for her to put her heart on the line. Can you really blame her for trying to protect herself?” Kara answered while staring down at her hands with a frown.

Alex smiled and inclined her head. “You’ve got it bad, sis. And while I think you’re not the only one at fault here, I understand what you’re saying. Maybe there are too many emotions between the two of you right now. So how about this, I’ll pay a visit to Cat tonight and simply tell her what’s going on? No more misunderstandings. After that the ball will be in her court.”

“I’m not sure,” Kara replied and reached out to grab Alex’s fork and shovel some noodles into her mouth.

“Do you trust me?”

Kara looked up into her eyes and nodded. “Of course.”

“Then let me fix this. I can’t do anything about this,” Alex said, gesturing between them, “but I can do my best to make that stubborn woman see how lucky she is to have you.”

The corner of Kara’s mouth tugged upward and she nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Okay.”

They smiled at each other for a few moments until Alex snatched the noodles away from Kara and gobbled them down in one go.

“Hey,” Kara protested quietly.

S-S-S

Alex could clearly hear two heartbeats in the large townhouse, one slow and steady, asleep, and the other a little faster, stronger. She glanced down at the curtains and the small slit of light between them.

She’d promised Kara to clear things up but that didn’t mean she was entirely comfortable facing Cat Grant like this. But she couldn’t hover in the air over Cat’s private balcony forever, so she eventually exhaled loudly and landed softly on the dark marble. Her boots made a small noise but not loud enough to alert Cat to her presence.

She walked over to the double doors and tapped her knuckles carefully against the glass. A small gasp from inside and Cat’s heartbeat accelerated, but there was no further movement for several moments. Alex was half-convinced Cat would simply ignore her, until she heard the rustling of fabric. Bare feet brushed over carpet and the curtains were drawn back until light spilled out onto the balcony where Alex was standing with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Cat was clad in a silken bathrobe that fell all the way down to her calves and she clutched at the front with her hand while peering at Alex through the split in the curtains.

They stared at each other for a few seconds until Cat sighed quietly and slid open the door.

“What are you doing here?”

There were dark circles under Cat's eyes and the faint scent of alcohol hung in the air. She regarded Kara's body with wary eyes and Alex felt an unexpected surge of sympathy for the woman. This mess must’ve been hard on her as well and it was about time they cleared things up.

“Remember when Kara said she would explain everything?” Alex asked, tilting her head and letting her arms fall to her sides. Now that she wasn’t purposefully trying to imitate Kara, her voice had taken on an entirely different cadence and her posture had probably changed as well.

“What…?”

“The person you spoke to this morning was Kara, just in the wrong body, which you would know if you'd given her the chance to explain. Last night at the apartment? Not Kara.”

Cat gasped and her hand flew to her mouth as she reached out and steadied herself against the balcony door. “It can’t be.”

“It’s the truth, and I'm simply here to outright tell you that there has been a misunderstanding, just not the way you thought. Kara wanted to tell you everything, but she messed up. We both know she loses control over her words sometimes, when she's especially nervous, and she was terrified because you thought it was her who'd dismissed you like that. She didn't, of course, but in my defense, I had no idea the two of you were… dating.”

“That means you're her sister…?”

“Alex, yes. Nice to meet you.”

Alex never thought she would see someone like Cat Grant speechless, but all it took was a tiny little body swap to turn her into a stuttering mess.

“So.... at the apartment, that was you as well?” Cat asked, apparently still trying to make sense of everything she was being told. There was a small frown between her eyebrows and she had taken a tiny step out onto the balcony as if to study Alex's face more closely. 

“Exactly.”

Cat searched Alex’s face for a moment longer until she exhaled shakily and retreated back onto the carpet of her room. “I should’ve known something wasn’t right. Kara… she’s fine though?”

“She is. We’re working on fixing this and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to cause permanent damage.”

A cool breeze blew across the balcony and Cat shivered lightly. Alex looked away briefly and nodded to herself. She’d probably taken up enough of Cat’s time and after such a revelation she probably needed space to process. Even for a woman with Cat's experience, it wasn't every day that you got told your girlfriend had switched bodies with her sister.

“That’s really all I came here to say. The rest is for you and Kara to figure out.”

“I understand,” Cat replied quietly. 

Alex smiled briefly. “For what it’s worth, Kara cares about you, a lot. A word of advice though, when Kara gives her heart away, she does it with everything she has. Perhaps you should appreciate that for what it is.”

Cat glanced down briefly before meeting Alex’s eyes. “I do.”

Alex nodded and took one last look at the woman standing there in the cool wind with such a bright gaze before taking off again and vanishing into the night sky.

S-S-S

The next morning Kara woke with a gasp and she sat up in the small bunk bed. Her heart was beating rapidly and she could hear someone coughing in the other room.

Wait.

She strained for a moment and realized that she could hear Alex’s breathing from the bed opposite her as well as J’onn’s voice somewhere else in the building. She had her powers back.

Kara jumped out of bed and flipped the lights on, immediately rushing over to the small square mirror on the wall and staring at her face. _Her_ face.

“What the hell?” came the grumble from a lump of blankets on the other bed, “turn the damn lights off, Kara. I’m tired.”

There was a beat of silence before the blankets went flying and Alex was sitting up in bed, staring at Kara.

“You’re you again.”

“And you’re you,” Kara replied with a broad grin.  

They immediately threw on some clothes and rushed to J’onn to inform him of this development. He was obviously pleased that they were back in their own bodies but still puzzled as to how any of this had come about in the first place.

While they'd been resting, a team of agents had located and arrested a small group of Fort Rozz escapees who had confessed to being responsible for the explosions. The prisoners had planned to poison humans with whatever had been in those barrels, but burning the chemicals hadn’t had the desired effect.

In fact, the only consequence had been an odd body switch probably due to Kara’s Kryptonian cells absorbing the blast while Alex happened to be nearby. Not that they'd ever reveal that to any of Supergirl's enemies, of course.

Alex and Kara shared a glance after they’d listened to the entire explanation. It seemed a bit anti-climactic to have woken up in the right body again, but it was still preferable to being trapped like that for an unknown amount of time.

Kara sighed and leaned against one of the tables in the main control room. “That means I have to go back to work in a few hours.”

“You could skip,” Alex suggested, “because I certainly am.”

“No, I think it’s time I talk to Cat myself.”

Alex patted Kara’s shoulder and smiled. “Good luck.”

S-S-S

A few hours later Kara was sitting behind her desk in the small windowless office Cat had assigned to her while she was typing away at her laptop. Her absence had been brief but work had still piled up like leaves in a drain. Even with a few bursts of superspeed she was still going to be here until well into the evening.

She hadn’t seen Cat yet, which wasn’t terribly surprising now that she wasn’t personally responsible for Cat’s daily schedule anymore. She’d even ceased bringing her piping hot lattes after they’d started dating and the first time Cat had brought her a cup of hot cocoa to her tiny office, Kara’s eyes had almost bulged out of her skull.

Similarly to the way they did when there was a small knock at her door and Cat stepped inside with a cup in her hand and a thoughtful look on her face. Kara didn’t know what to say so she simply sat there with her hands hovering in the air above her keyboard.

They stared at each other for several seconds before Cat shifted her weight from one foot to the other and a soft breath escaped her parted lips. “I know there are a lot of things on this planet I cannot even begin to wrap my head around, but I’d never thought I’d find you looking at me from someone else’s face. And I just… didn’t see it, although I should have.”

Kara slowly rose to her feet, the chair giving a small squeak behind her. “You… couldn’t have known. It wasn’t something you could’ve anticipated.”

“And yet I acted like an idiot the moment you tried to explain it to me,” Cat shot back.

Kara flinched at the word ‘idiot’ and slowly walked around her desk. “I probably could’ve done a better job, especially since I showed up as Alex, it must've seemed strange to you.”

“Not as strange as knowing I kissed your sister,” Cat replied with a small shudder that Kara mirrored immediately.

A moment later a small smile tugged at Kara’s mouth. “We’re never going to live that down.”

Cat scoffed quietly but she was smiling cautiously, watching Kara approach slowly until they were standing in front of each other.

“You knew it was me as soon as you came in just now, didn’t you?”

Cat stared at her and bit her bottom lip. “I know what to look for, now. I’m… glad you’re back.”

“Me too,” Kara replied and leaned forward to press a gentle kiss against soft lips.

Cat’s mouth immediately yielded under the pressure and Kara reached out and caught the small cup as it slid out of Cat’s fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the ending might seem a bit rushed but it's the best I could do with the time I had. hope you enjoyed it.


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